Possible move to Edwards, CO (Avon, Vail: ski resort, real estate market, apartment)

[Mudlarkerwannebe]

There is a chance that my husband and I will be moving to Edwards. I know nothing about the city and am worried about the cost of living difference and crime. Living in Texas now, the cost of living is wonderfully low and we are surviving fine on 50k a year. Can anyone tell me what roadblocks are ahead of us or what we can expect?



Thanks, in advance

[interloper1138]

I'm assuming you're looking at working at a ski resort. Please know up-front what your new wages would be and compare them to what local rent rates are. Many, many seasonal workers in Colorado can't afford to live where they work. Couch surfing and periodic homelessness is common, despite these workers having guaranteed jobs. No matter what you do, please do not make that move without first finding and securing a place to live that you know you can afford. I cannot stress this enough.

[bluescreen73]

Edwards is more or less a spillover town for the resort towns of Vail and Avon. Cost of living will be considerably higher than a vast majority of Texas locales, and it's pretty isolated in the mountains. 50k a year is really low if you're trying to feed a family, and unless you've got a pile of cash laying around, home ownership is likely out of reach.

[SkyDog77]

What is causing the move to Edwards if you know nothing about the town? Why is salary staying the same? There are many pitfalls in mountain living if you are not prepared. Cost is only one of them.

[COcheesehead]

It’s beautiful. Right off the interstate though so it can get busy in tourist season since it’s right next to Beaver Creek. Limited housing options, especially inexpensive ones.
Winters will be cold and snowy. Summers, gorgeous.
It’s a small, seasonal town.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by Mudlarkerwannebe

...Edwards. I know nothing about the city

Because it is not a city.
"Edwards is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Eagle County"

[Dogmama50]

I live in Avon about 10 minutes away from Edwards. Worrying about crime is pointless, we have crimes of opportunity here, leave your $5,000 mountain bike unlocked, it will get stolen, leave a granola bar in your unlocked subaru and a bear shreds it to get the food, you're on the news, we generally only lock our doors at night to keep the bears from coming in. We do now and again have something horrible happen but I have been in this area for almost 15 years and have never felt unsafe.

On to cost of living, $50,000 for a couple is poverty level here, they just raised the income threshold for a family of 4 to receive reduced rent in some complexes to $100,000. A 2 bedroom condo in Edwards will cost about $550,000 and it will be on the market for less than a day, you can head down the road about 20 minutes to Eagle, 30 to Gypsum and your cost will drop to about $450,000.

If your husband has a VERY good offer with a great stable company that includes medical (we're some of the highest costs in the country for insurance), gives you relocation, helps you find somewhere to live (there is practically nothing to rent), and you like the snow and tourists then there are a lot of positives to living here. I'm happy to tell you what those are too but the reality is it's very expensive to live here, long term locals are moving out because they can't find anywhere to live and we have a worker shortage due to wages not keeping up with the real estate market.

[wilberry]

your only chance of financial survival will be if you can find a Studio Apt for under $1200. The House in Eagle sometimes has vacancies.

[GeoffD]

The wage scales in the resort towns are way higher than most of Texas. There aren’t many jobs in Vail that pay less than $20/hour. There’s such a shortage of rental housing from telecommuters moving in that it will be challenging. I doubt you’d find an apartment in Edwards for much less than $2,000/month. People who work at the resorts are getting pushed west to Gypsum and beyond.